Out of Africa

Posted on January 16, 2015 by jaycluitt

Karen Dinesen (Meryl Streep) is a wealthy, unmarried woman in Denmark in the 1910s. In her circle, an unmarried woman is deemed unseemly, so she marries her friend, Baron Blixen (Klaus Maria Brandauer), on the basis that she will become a baroness and he will share her wealth. The two move to Africa (I think it’s Kenya) with intentions of starting a dairy, but unbeknownst to Karen her new husband has changed all the plans to growing coffee instead. He proves to be an inadequate husband, always being away hunting whilst his wife is left home with nothing to do, as whenever she tries to help out with the work the local staff are confused at her presence. Enter Denys (Robert Redford), a big game hunter who at first becomes friends with Karen, along with another man, Michael Kitchen’s Berkeley, but soon, inevitably, starts a relationship with her too. 5704_4_1080p Continue reading →

South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut

Posted on January 14, 2015 by jaycluitt

This review was originally written as part of my USA Road Trip series for French Toast Sunday.

I used to watch South Park when I was a teenager. It was the kind of seemingly juvenile, vulgar and immature gross-out humour that my parents probably would have greatly disapproved of had they known I was watching it, or even what South Park was, as they presumably just assumed it was some kind of shoddy animated show for kids that I’d eventually grow out of, and to a certain respect I did. I haven’t seen the show in many years – I think I only ever saw the first season or two – and I’d never seen the film before, but it being set in Colorado was a perfect opportunity for me to catch up. Unfortunately, the humour just wasn’t what I remember it being. Continue reading →

Oklahoma!

Posted on December 21, 2014 by jaycluitt

This review was originally written as part of my USA Road Trip series for French Toast Sunday.

Curly (Gordon MacRae) loves Laurey (Shirley Jones), but pretends he doesn’t. Laurey loves him right back but is too stubborn to say so. Jud Fry (Rod Steiger) the farmhand lusts for Laurey too. Laurey’s friend Ado Annie (Gloria Grahame) is betrothed to Will Parker (Gene Nelson), but he can’t get Annie’s father’s permission until he has at least $50 to his name. Whilst Will has been earning the money in Kansas City, Annie has blossomed somewhat as a woman, and found herself with plenty of suitors, believing her most recent conquest, travelling salesman Ali Hakim (Eddie Albert), wants her for his wife. Laurey’s Aunt Eller (Charlotte Greenwood) watches everything with a wry smile and a disapproving eye, making remarks that aren’t funny, but which everyone in the film laughs raucously at anyway. Also: everyone sings.
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The Sorrow and the Pity

Posted on December 12, 2014 by jaycluitt

The Sorrow and the Pity is a documentary, initially released in 1969, which focusses on the relationship between France and Germany during the Second World War, specifically the Nazi occupation of the French city of Clermont-Ferrand. However, that’s not what this review is very much about.
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Audition

Posted on December 4, 2014 by jaycluitt

After his wife dies and his son grows up, Shigeharu (Ryo Ishibashi) is encouraged to look for a new wife. A friend of his in the film industry suggests setting up an audition process, under the guise of looking for a star for a new movie, during which Shigeharu can scope out the perfect candidate. He is initially apprehensive of these underhand tactics, but eventually concedes and goes ahead. During the trials, it is clear one girl stands out; Asami (Eihi Shiina). The two meet up, but Shigeharu soon suspects everything with his new dream girl may not be as perfect as it seems. Continue reading →

The Best of Youth

Posted on November 9, 2014 by jaycluitt

Matteo and Nicola Caratis (Alessio Boni and Luigi Lo Cascio) are brothers growing up in 1960s Italy. In the summer of ’66, that lesser known Bryan Adams song, Nicola becomes one step closer to becoming a doctor, so he and his older brother, who unbeknownst to Nicola has just walked out of his own exam, plan to go on a celebratory vacation to Norway with their two friends. However Matteo, who has been working as a carer looking after mentally disabled people, discovers his latest patient, Giorgia (Jasmine Trinca) has been undergoing forced electroshock therapy, so he breaks her out of her institution with plans of returning her to her family whilst on the trip. What occurs on this holiday sets Matteo and Nicola on vastly different paths, which are subsequently documented over the next four decades, following not just the two brothers, but also their friends, sisters, parents, lovers and, eventually, children. The-Best-of-Youth
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The Man Who Fell To Earth

Posted on November 7, 2014 by jaycluitt

This review was originally written as part of my USA Road Trip series for French Toast Sunday.

An alien (David Bowie) has come to Earth and disguised himself as a human. How did he get here? What does he want? Why is his first act on our planet to apply for patent protections? Is that really Rip Torn? All these questions and more will be answered and immediately replaced with others in this oddball 70s sci-fi brain-botherer from Nicolas Roeg. the-man-who-fell-to-earth-w1280
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Carnival of Souls

Posted on November 6, 2014 by jaycluitt

This review was originally written as part of my USA Road Trip series on French Toast Sunday.

When an impromptu drag race ends in tragedy, Mary (Candace Hilligoss) leave home and heads to Utah, where she has been hired as a church organist. However, Mary’s journey and life soon becomes encumbered by the appearance of a creepy pale man, who seems to have something to do with the abandoned carnival just outside of town. Continue reading →

Killing Season

Posted on November 5, 2014 by jaycluitt

This review was originally written for Blueprint: Review.

Almost twenty years after the US intervened in the Serbian/Bosnian conflict, two opposing veterans run into one another in the mountains of Georgia. One of them, American Colonel Benjamin Ford (De Niro) has become a recluse, living out his days away from his son (Ventimiglia) and his family, but bears a constant reminder of the war by way of the shrapnel still lodged in his leg. The other, Serbian soldier Emil Kovac (Travolta), initially seems friendly, but soon shows his true intentions.
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Fading Gigolo

Posted on November 3, 2014 by jaycluitt

This review was originally written for Blueprint: Review.

In New York’s Jewish Quarter, Murray, a failing bookshop owner (Allen), needs money. When his dermatologist (Stone) mentions she and her friend (Vergara) have always wanted a ménage a trois, Murray sees an opportunity; he recruits his florist and general odd-job-man friend Fioravante (Turturro) to become a gigolo, and soon the money comes pouring in.

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